Girona (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Location of Girona electoral district.

Girona is one of the 52 electoral districts (Spanish: circunscripciones) used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is one of four electoral districts which correspond to the provinces of Catalonia. Girona is the largest municipality although it only has 60,000 voters out of the total electorate of 457,000. Figueres is the second largest municipality with 28,000 voters. There are no other municipalities with electorates over 25,000. The district has traditionally been one of the weakest for the national parties of the right, who, since 1982, have only won a seat on one occasion in the district. It was one of only two districts in the 2004 election (along with Lleida) where the People's Party (PP) failed to win a seat. With the PP gaining a seat in Lleida in 2008, Girona is now the only district without PP representation.

While the district traditionally favoured the Convergence and Union coalition, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) have topped the poll at the last two elections.

Boundaries and electoral system

Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution ^[1] the boundaries must be the same as the province of Girona and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The electoral system used is closed list proportional representation with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. Only lists which poll 3% of the total vote (which includes votes "en blanco" i.e. for none of the above) can be considered. Under article 12 of the constitution, the minimum voting age is 18.

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Eligibility

Article 67.3 of the Spanish Constitution prohibits dual membership of the Cortes and regional assemblies, meaning that candidates must resign from Regional Assemblies if elected. Article 70 also makes active judges, magistrates, public defenders, serving military personnel, active police officers and members of constitutional and electoral tribunals ineligible.^[1]

Number of members

In the general elections from 1977 onwards Girona returned 5 members. That figure was increased to 6 members for the 2004 General Election.

Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population.^[2] These laws are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) The practical effect of this law has been to over-represent smaller provinces at the expense of larger provinces. In 2004 for example Spain had 34,571,831 voters giving an average of 98,777 voters per deputy.^[3] In Girona however the number of voters per deputy was only 76,215.^[4]

Summary of seats won 1977–2008

Note: Seats shown for the PP include seats won by their predecessor, the Popular Alliance in 1982.

PSOE has contested elections under the label Socialist Party of Catalonia (Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya).

Democratic Convergence of Catalonia contested the 1977 election under the label Democratic Pact for Catalonia (Pacte Democràtic per Catalunya). After 1977 they have contested elections as part of an alliance with Democratic Union of Catalonia called Convergence and Union (Convergència i Unió).

Republican Left of Catalonia contested the 1977 election as part of an electoral alliance called Catalan Left - Electoral Democratic Front (Esquerra de Catalunya-Front Electoral Democràtic) as openly republican parties were unable to contest the 1977 elections.^[5]

Democratic Centre Union fought the 1979 election as part of an alliance called Catalan Centrists (Centristes de Catalunya.)

Vote share summary 1977-2008

Results

In 2008, PSOE had their highest ever vote share with their vote share increase being their sixth highest overall, only exceeded by the three Basque provinces, Tarragona and Las Palmas. They narrowly won a third seat for the first time, with their third candidate beating the PP frontrunner by 3276 votes for the final seat. ERC had a significant decrease, losing almost half their votes with their leading candidate only 3308 votes ahead of the PP.

2008 General Election

Summary of the 11 March 2008 Congress of Deputies election results in Girona.

The district gained a seat for the 2004 election. The PSOE topped the poll for the first time since the 1979 election. The PP narrowly lost their seat to Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), missing out by less than 800 votes for the final seat. The 2004 election also saw ERC make a breakthrough, winning their first seats since the restoration of democracy in 1977.

2004 General Election

Summary of the 14 March 2004 Congress of Deputies election results in Girona.

The 2000 General Election saw the PP gain a seat for the first time since 1982.

2000 General Election

Summary of the 12 March 2000 Congress of Deputies election results in Girona.

Source:^[6]

External links

• List of members by year
• Number of voters by Municipality in 2008

References